Clarity
by summerfunx
Summary: Imogen Moreno keeps a rather significant mishap to herself in order to hold onto the normality of her relationship with Fiona Coyne. Despite encouragement from best friend Eli Goldsworthy, Imogen cannot muster up the courage to admit the truth that would forever curtail her future with her loved one. Can this couple really make it through anything together? A Fimogen one-shot.


"You _still_ haven't told Fiona?!" Eli Goldsworthy inquired in a dumbfounded manner, displeasure anything but subtle in his voice.

"Shhh! Shut up!" Imogen Moreno hissed at a whisper-shout volume.

"I'm sorry!" Eli replied in a tone reflecting the quirky girl's. "But come on Imogen, the longer you keep this a secret, once it finally gets out, Fiona's only going to be more hurt."

Eli was most definitely sympathetic of Imogen, yet he couldn't help but feel guilty himself with the knowledge that one of his best friends was hoarding a massive secret from the other; especially when those two best friends were engaged in one of the healthiest, most stable and loving relationships he'd ever seen not only at Degrassi, but also in his life.

He knew he owed his loyalty to both of the girls, which weighed heavily on him considering his duty to Imogen inclined him to keep his mouth shut, whereas his loyalty to Fiona Coyne caused him to carry the burden of being honest with her, which he then betrayed by lying in the moments she'd question him why her girlfriend seemed a bit off. However, though keeping the secret made him uneasy, he knew it wasn't his place to pull the trigger and let Fiona in on the news. Had he done so, he would be in danger of jeopardizing the entire relationship between the three of them forever.

"Don't you think I know that?" Imogen remarked. "It's all I think about now. And I realize it's negatively affecting my remaining time with her. I mean, just the other day she was making all the plans for us and it was amazing because I didn't feel pressured, I felt ecstatic and kept feeding into her ideas – hell, _I _was even throwing some suggestions out there." She let out a deep sigh, causing her shoulders to shrug down. "But then I remembered, I'm stuck at Degrassi and won't be attending design school with the love of my life."

Eli cocked a brow. "Love of your life? You sure that's not pushing it?"

Imogen was far from offended; by Eli's mannerisms and tones she could tell whether he was being condescending or genuinely curious. She simply shook her head, her hands nervously smoothing out the wrinkles in the bottoms of her shorts light denim overalls, her long sleeve pastel pink and white striped basic tee and hot pink Converse completing her look. "I love Fiona…I'm _in _love with Fiona, and I know she's in love with me. We started out the best way any couple could…we were best friends first, and we still are. I've never felt anything like this in my entire life, it scares me sometimes that she can be sitting right next to me and holding my hand yet I'm missing her already. I wanted a future with her…I still do, but now everything's off track and I'm afraid of what could happen."

Eli listened intently, nodding his head as he soaked in all that had been said. He took in a deep breath, giving himself a moment of thinking before replying. "You two are the best couple I know. The way you talk about her is unbelievable, and vice versa. But whether you told her weeks ago or told her a day or two from now, it won't stop whatever's meant to happen. Trust your relationship, trust Fiona and just tell her. If you wait any longer the outcome will be less than favorable because she'll feel like you lied to her. Your best bet it to get it out in the open as soon-"

"Get what out in the open?" Fiona questioned, happily prancing into the living room of her loft. Her gorgeous brunette curls cascaded onto her white, long sleeve white base and floral pattern blouse that tucked into her shorts that matched the wash of Imogen's overalls with summery gladiator-like heels strapped to her feet. She was oblivious to how she had startled the two, even while their bodies shuttered out of surprise. She plopped down on the cool leather couch beside Imogen, gently kissing her cheek as Eli's green eyes widened, his eyes shifting between the two girls as he tried to come up with a cover; an audible "uhhh…" escaped his mouth but thankfully Imogen had mastered keeping the situation hidden from her beloved.

"Get out in the open how in love with you I am," Imogen concocted, causing the ends of Fiona's lips curve up into a smile. Imogen's arm snaked around the older girl's waist, pulling her in as she placed her lips on her forehead, kissing it lovingly. "Though," Imogen continued, "I'm sure you're tired of hearing me express how much I love you and how wonderful I think you are."

Fiona happily shrugged her shoulders, her hand reaching for Imogen's free one, lacing their fingers as their hands met. "I never get tired of that. I'd actually love to hear about how much you love me and how wonderful I am right now."

Eli playfully groaned, standing up from his seat in one of the leather recliners. "As happy as that would make Fiona, you guys don't have time for that in here. You two have a picnic to tend to. You can hear all about it over there."

Fiona's eyes saddened, pouting out her bottom lip as she looked at him. "Are you not coming anymore?"

Imogen threw a look at Eli, but he barely glanced at her. "No, I'm not. Adam texted me while you were changing and I'm gonna head over to his place to play some video games. Maybe read some comics too."

"But Eli, we couldn't possibly finish all the food without you. Plus what if Becky's over there? Better to be a third wheel with the two of us than with the girl that hated your guts and your _marvelous_ play." Imogen insisted, her hints staining her voice that only Eli could pick up on.

Eli shook his head nonchalantly, pursing out his lips. "Nah he didn't say anything about her. Plus if she were there it'd be cool. I mean, we glazed over the whole ordeal and are very cordial with one another now so I wouldn't mind her presence. At least you two love birds can have some alone time now."

"Aww...well we'll miss you, it won't be the same without you." Fiona whined, rising to her feet. She slid her arms around Eli's neck, giving him a loving squeeze. He returned the gesture, his arms around her waist, with a view of Imogen's death stare in the corner of his eye.

As the two parted from their embrace, his glace bounced between the two of them. "Well, guess it's _now or never_," he emphasized; again, Fiona oblivious and Imogen more than aware of his push to tell Fiona the truth.

Imogen defeated and Fiona blind, Eli casually made his way out of the loft, shutting the door on his way out and letting out a breath of relief.

X

Back in the loft, Fiona, hungry and eager, wasted no time to roll up a blanket, pick up the picnic basket, grab Imogen and drag her all the way to the nicest park within walking distance.

Though the sun shone into the loft through the blinds, it did no justice to show either of the girls how warm and bright it was outside. It was beautiful – the bees were buzzing around the flowers, the chirps of the birds filled the air and the laughter of small children could be heard all around.

Fiona skipped up one of the more hilly parts in the center of the park, laying out the quilted blanket on the gorgeously green grass. It took Imogen a while to catch up since Fiona had finally released her vicious grip at the bottom of the hill. Exhausted, Imogen plopped down in the middle of the spread out fabric, causing the older girl to pout, the basket still in her hands. "That's where _this_ goes!" She whined. "Don't be such a baby, it wasn't that bad of a travel."

"Says you," Imogen breathed a little heavier than expected, sitting up and adjusting herself to sit closer to the edges of the sheet. Fiona, pleased that she could so easily get her way with her girlfriend, gracefully rested on the blanket on her knees, placing the basket in the center. As she pulled out their food from the basket – plain bagel BLT sandwiches, a container of Cesar salad, a bowl of strawberries, a container of chocolate dip, macaroons, and glass bottled Coca Cola – Imogen continued her rant. "You weren't dragged all the way here. Literally. We could've had a nice, peaceful stroll over here but nope. Anxious Miss Coyne couldn't spare me a couple extra minutes to get here."

"Oh hush." Fiona dismissed, picking up a strawberry, dipping it and, less-than-seductively, slid the fruit between Imogen's lips. Imogen instinctively took a bite, but not without the chocolate spreading all over her bottom lip. Fiona couldn't help but giggle as she pulled it back, finishing off the rest of the strawberry before leaning into Imogen.

Her soft, pink, glossy lips met the younger girl's, her hand sliding up onto her cheek as their kiss grew more passionate. Imogen happily locked her lips with the older girl's, until Fiona's lips slid over her bottom one, sucking off the chocolate remnant, more than making up for her lack of sexual appeal with the strawberry earlier.

Though surrounded by the most amazing food, the couple was now only hungry for each other. Like a magnet, Imogen's hands were now latched onto Fiona's sides. Imogen lied back down onto the blanket, pulling Fiona's body on top of her own. Fiona complied, her lips parting from the quirky girl's as her blue eyes fixated on her girlfriend's brown ones, causing both of them to stupidly smile in their silence, enjoying each other's embrace. Fiona's hand gently pushed Imogen's hair back behind her ear, getting a better view of her glowingly beautiful face. Their lips met once more, this time soft and sweet, before the silence was broken.

"I love you so much, I don't even know what to do with myself sometimes." Fiona scrunched her nose cutely for a moment, giggling quietly.

"Well you manage to make me fall more in love with you everyday. Just when I think I've hit the capacity of how much one person could ever love another, BAM, you do one small thing and it just diminishes all boundaries." Imogen confessed.

"Aw, Immy," Fiona cooed, brushing the tip of her nose against Imogen's. "I'm so lucky I have you. You know, I've been stressing over leaving Degrassi. I mean, this is the place I've stayed at the longest. It's where I met the best friends I ever could have made: Holly J, Eli, and you. And it's where we fell in love. Plus I spent an extra year here so I only grew more attached to it. But knowing I'll have you by my side next year is comforting. I'll have a piece of home with me."

Imogen stayed silent as her heart sunk into her stomach. Emptiness overcame her body, then the feeling of missing Fiona took over as it had before, but this time it was a million times worse. The corners of her lips shifted downward, her eyebrows furrowed together and the life from her eyes seemed to disappear. Fiona was thoroughly confused, assuming she had somehow offended her girlfriend or her loving words were too much for Imogen to handle.

"Sorry…" the socialite whispered, sitting up and adjusted herself back onto the blanket.

"No Fions," Imogen tried to console as she also sat up, immediately taking the older girl's hands into her own. "I'm sorry. That was great. I'm so thankful I have someone like you that loves me for all that I am."

Imogen's words, for the first time, failed to comfort Fiona. "Immy…I know I've been pushing it with all the plans for us next year but it's not set in stone. We can room with other people and maintain our relationship; it's fine, really. I'm just happy I have you, and I tend to get clingy since I'm not used to having someone genuinely care about me."

"Fiona." Imogen said sternly, catching her attention. Her head sunk down for a moment as she let out a sigh; when her gaze met Fiona's again, her eyes were a little red, and as she began speaking again, her voice was apparently horse. "I need to tell you something."

Fiona rested on her knees, her bottom resting on her heels once again and moved her hands away from Imogen's, folding them neatly in her lap. She took in a deep breath, letting it out slowly as her face discolored to a pale state. The corners of her lips tightened as she prepared herself, her voice cold as she nearly commanded, "Speak."

Imogen sensed the change in her girlfriend's demeanor, and considering how well she knew Fiona, she could tell that she was thinking the worst: that perhaps she had cheated. This helped boost some confidence into Imogen: she was more than glad that the news she had to deliver wasn't _that_ bad. She still had a pain in her heart though, knowing their future was forever hindered. Now she'd find out if her girlfriend was willing to put up a fight, or if the differences in experience would prove to be too much to handle.

"Fions…I love you so much it's ridiculous. You've been amazing at staying on a speed where I was comfortable. You've been so considerate, so accepting and so supportive. I would love more than anything to start a new chapter with you, living together: where I could fall asleep and have the last thing I see be your face, then wake up to you and have the first thing I see be your face. I wouldn't mind that being my life at all."

"Then what is it?" Fiona disregarded, tears escaping her eyes. She quickly wiped them away, remaining unbelievably stony.

Imogen's eyes gravitated down, whispering, "I…I won't be graduating with you…"

Fiona's eyes widened, her arms folding over her chest. "Excuse me?" She sniffled.

"I have to stay at Degrassi a bit longer…" she explained, her body language not budging. "My grades suffered a bit, a couple in particular. I have to come back after the summer and retake those classes."

"I'm going to be alone next year?!" Fiona exclaimed, a hand resting up on her forehead as her eyes stayed wide in disbelief. "I'm going to be alone…"

Imogen's head shot up. _Did she just passively break up with me?_ "Fiona I can still visit you and we can plan nice getaways over vacations and Skype or FaceTime every single night. I love you, and I didn't know this was going to happen-"

"No," Fiona said, rising to her feet. "You didn't know, but you got your report card a couple weeks ago. You waited this long to tell me. Can you not fathom how much that hurts me?"

Imogen looked up apologetically at her girlfriend, nodding as she stayed silent.

"I'm your _girlfriend_. We were going to live together. We were going to work on a future together and you couldn't trust me enough to tell me right away? You decided to blindside me when we're supposed to be having a nice date?"

The younger girl hopped up onto her feet, her hands moving behind Fiona to rest on her mid-back and moved closer to her girlfriend. She made eye contact, her face filled with a mix of emotions, but she did feel a bit better hearing Fiona refer to herself still as her girlfriend. "I'm so sorry. You were just so excited and I knew it would break your heart. And it's breaking mine twice as much knowing that if I kept up or did things a little different our lives would have worked out as planned. But I love you and I refuse to let this ruin us."

"You've been lying to me!" Fiona yelled, anger evident as her hands pushed against Imogen's shoulders, causing her to take a couple steps back, her hands dropping from the older girl's back. Tears rushed down the blue-eyed beauty's face as her finger pointed at her in a scolding manner. "I would've understood, you _knew_ I would have understood. And I would've saved myself from looking like a complete moron. You've been going along with what I've been saying, acting like it was all plausible when you _knew _none of it would happen! You're so selfish!"

Imogen was definitely taken back at her girlfriend's action. Never had Fiona laid a finger on Imogen in a way that made her feel uncomfortable, and now she was beyond worried at the severity of their argument. In attempt to simmer the situation, she simply said, "Fiona, I'm sorry…"

"Do you not realize we're going to be living in two completely different worlds?" She sighed, her voice lowering. She bent down to pick up a napkin, wiping her tears as she straightened back up again. "It won't be the same. And you _lied_. I met you because I got trapped at Degrassi a year longer, and I'm grateful for the moments I've shared with you, but you knew I, more than anybody, would have understood your situation. Especially with all the crap you dealt with this year. But instead, you lied to me. I love you with everything I have in me and I had every intention of making this work, but-"

"No, no. Fions don't say 'but'. Please don't let there be a 'but'" Imogen pleaded, tears steaming down her face.

Fiona looked down, her hair falling in her face a bit, her tears dropping to the ground.

"Fiona!" Imogen gently moved her hand under Fiona's chin, lifting her gaze to meet her eyes. "Please. I love you."

"Immy I'm sorry," she cried, a pain stabbing at her heart as her eyes locked onto Imogen's. "But I love you, you know that."

"Fiona, no!" Imogen fought, dropping to her knees and wrapping her arms around Fiona's legs. The act seemed childish, which hurt Imogen's cause some, but she wasn't willing to let go, not ever. Her face pressed in against her bare thigh as her hold only grew stronger.

This helped Fiona's crying decrease from the state of a flood to more of a puddle for a small while, now that she was slightly embarrassed that people may see their current stance. "Imogen please get up."

"No!" Imogen argued.

"Imogen." Fiona said in a more strict tone, waving her hands in front of her face in attempt to stop the tears. "People might see us."

"You said you were going to be alone, I'm here proving that you won't be. I love you. I may not be around physically all the time but who cares? You know how in love I am with you. I _will not_ let _anything_ ruin this. You're my best friend, you're the person I'm in love with, you're my everything. There's no way I'm losing a once in a lifetime love because I made some mistakes." As Fiona tried to wiggle free, Imogen only tightened her hold around her legs.

"We can talk about this back at the loft." Fiona said calmly, venturing a compromise.

"No we cannot," Imogen dismissed. Her tears were still falling, her voice almost as broken as her heart, her nails nearly digging into Fiona's skin. "I know you! You're saying that so I let go but I won't. I won't let go. You don't have to forgive me right now, but you know we're perfect together Fiona Celestine Arabella Coyne. You and I won't be around each other everyday, but it will only be for a year. Then it'll be back to normal, I swear."

Fiona tried pulling her legs back one at a time, then in a desperate attempted tried pulling them both back at once, causing her to fall back onto her butt. Imogen was still attached to her legs, not budging a bit. Fiona groaned, wincing at the slight, quick pain. Her hands pressed down into the blanket as she kept herself propped up, staring at Imogen. The situation distracted her from the need to cry, however her face was still red, as well as her eyes – which were puffed up some. "Imogen…we can still be fri-"

"Don't you dare say we can be friends," Imogen demanded. "We _will _be together. We _will _make it through one year only partially apart. We _will _then be at the same school, living together. Then we'll make it past that. We'll be happy, we'll get our own place. We'll only be more in love with each other. We'll get married, have a dog, have careers and kids. We _will _have it all and we _will_ have it all together because when I picture my future it's full of you and not in the role as a 'friend'. I'm in love with you Fiona and I _will not_ spend the rest of my life with anyone that is not you."

Fiona's expression softened, her hand brushing against Imogen's cheek. Her thumb grazed over her lips softly, causing Imogen to rest her head on Fiona's knee with her grip still intact. "That's the sweetest thing I have ever heard," she admitted.

"And I mean it, Fions. I sound like a broken record or an Elmo toy but I love you. I will regret it for the rest of my life if I lose you. Just try with me, and if for some reason it doesn't work out – although it will because we're meant to be together – then we can go our separate ways. It's better to try and to fail than to never try and wonder. You know it and so do I. Please," Imogen begged. "I'm so sorry. And we still have much of the summer to spend together. Be mad at me all you want, but don't throw this away."

Fiona nodded her head slowly, whispering. "You're right."

Imogen's head immediately perked up, a chipper quality returning to her voice. "Really? You're not just saying that so I let go of your legs, are you?"

Fiona scoffed, rolling her eyes playfully. "No, Miss Bizarre-o. I love you so much, I don't want to let my emotions ruin something good."

"Eeeeep!" Imogen squeaked merrily, releasing Fiona from her death grip and leaned into her for a make-up kiss.

The kiss was blocked by Fiona's hand that rose up in front of her lips, cocking her head to the side a bit. "Keep in mind, I'm still mad. We only kiss on my terms."

Imogen retracted, nodding her head enthusiastically: she would from now on comply with Fiona's every want and need as long as it meant they'd work out their relationship.

After keeping a serious face for a good couple minutes, Fiona broke, a smile forming on her face. This put Imogen at ease, a smile growing on her face as well. Fiona then leaned into her younger girlfriend, pressing her lips against hers and kissed her tenderly, pulling back not long after. "Now eat up. I won't let this food go to waste."

X

After the tears dried up, the makeup was fixed and a couple bites of sandwich, salad and the total disappearance of the macaroons later, Imogen smirked as a thought popped into her mind. Fiona curiously cocked a brow, playfully glaring at her. "What?"

"Oh nothing…" Imogen sang. "It's just that, you know, though you'll be in adult world, had I tagged along I'd still be at liberty to act more immature than you. So this situation doesn't make much of a difference. After all I am a year younger…cradle robber."

"Shut up," Fiona giggled, shaking her head.

"I'm just saying," Imogen offered, a smile plastered on her face. "It's okay to be a cougar."

"Don't push it," Fiona joked as she reached up, her fingers gently brushing away the crumbs from Imogen's lips. "I love you, you weirdo."

"And you're my whole heart, Fions."


End file.
